Intro to Snowshoeing

Learn the gear, maintenance, safety and entry level techniques for this entry into the winter wonderland for many people and a common activity in the winter schedule.  This is also a wonderful way of beating the ever rising resort lift ticket fees and crowds.  There will be two classroom sessions in Colorado Springs on 03 and 04 Jan from 6:00p to 9:30p and one field session on 07 Jan all day.  The field session location is normally Hoosier Pass.  Attendance at all is required to earn the badge.  The course cost is $35 for members and $135 for non members.  There are also rental costs from local gear shops if you don't own the gear.  A general fitness level to go on a full day snowshoe trip is required for the field session.  The first classroom is the same as the BC Ski class.  The target audience is anyone new to snowshoeing.  

Agenda:

Class 1 - Handouts, Sources of information for planning, Avalanche Awareness, What to wear, What to bring, Winter hazards, Conclusion - what to think about

Class 2 - Snowshoe construction, Activity types, Snowshoe selection, Gaiters, Poles, Snowshoe travel, CMC snowshoe trip classification

Field Session - Become familiar with putting on the gear, Learn basics of uphill and downhill travel, crossing obstacles, getting up from a fall in deep snow, learn LNT ethics, Learn team effort to punch a trail, etc.